at the National Roman Museum -
Palazzo Massimo alle Terme
Posted by TANN
From 20 December 2013 to 1 June 2014 the exhibition "Mostri. Creature fantastiche della paura e del mito" (Monsters. Fantastic Creatures of Fear and Myth) will be open to the public at Palazzo Massimo alle Terme.
Amphora with chimera, 550-525 B.C. [Credit: © Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig, Basel]
Dish with Bellerophon on Pegasus and Chimera, second half of the fourth century B.C. [Credit: © Archivio fotografico SSBAR]
Over one hundred archaeological finds, from Italian and foreign museums - Athens, Berlin, Basel, Vienna, Los Angeles and New York - illustrate the iconographic evolution of the Minotaur, the Griffins, the Chimeras, the Gorgons, Pegasus, the Sphinx, the Harpies, the Sirens, the Satyrs, the Centaurs, the Hydra of Lerna, Scylla and other sea monsters, from the Orient to Greece, as well as to the Etruscan, Italic and Roman world.
Statue of the Minotaur by a group with Theseus, circa 1895 [Credit: © Archivio fotografico SSBAR, foto Simona Sansonetti]
Sculptural group with Nereid and sea monster, first century B.C. [Credit: © Archivio fotografico SSBAR]
A reminder that Classical Art not only portrays the ideal beauty of gods and heroes, but also a series of creatures of horror, into which men have always cast the darkest aspects of themselves. The exhibition unfolds itself along a labyrinthic path, just as the ancient shape throughout which heroes had to walk in their initiatory journey before they could come "forth to rebehold the stars".
Statue acroterial with Typhoon, sixth century B.C., Museo Nazionale Romano magazzini [Credit: © Archivio fotografico SSBAR]
Rython (libations vase) in the shape of Scilla, fourth century B.C. [Credit: © Archivio fotografico SBAP, foto P. Busicchio]
The persistence of mythological figures in modern and contemporary culture is illustrated by the paintings on canvas Crete (by Alberto Savino), Medusa (by an anonymous Flemish painter of the first half of the 17th century), Perseus freeing Andromeda (by Cavalier d' Arpino).
Relief with siren, fifth century B.C., [Credit: © SMB/Antikensammlung, Berlino / Foto: Johannes Laurentius]
Hydria (water container) with Heracles and the Hydra of Lerna, 530-500 B.C. [Credit: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Villa Collection]
A public lecture focused on the art of giving birth to movie monsters will be held by visual effects and makeup experts Scott Ross and Shane Mahan on 21 December, 2013 at 11.00 at the Auditorium Parco della Musica, in order to link the birth of the story in pictures with the latest technologies of the show.
Shield emblem with chimera, second half of the sixth century B.C., Melfi (Potenza), Museo Archeologico Nazionale del Melfese “Massimo Pallottino” [Credit: © Archivio fotografico SBAB]
Group with man and centaur, eighth century B.C. [Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art © 2013 Image]
On the opening night of the event, the laser projections made by Hyperreality will be screened onto the façade of Palazzo Massimo facing Piazza dei Cinquecento, staging the confrontation between monsters and heroes, which allude to the complexity of human soul and the resources of creative intelligence.
Amphora with Heracles and the Hydra of Lerna, 560-540 B.C. [Credit: © Archivio fotografico SBAEM, foto Mauro Benedetti] The animations will be also projected in the inner courtyard of the museum for the entire duration of the exhibition.
Source: National Roman Museum [January 09, 2014]
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